Container closure



Feb. 24, 1948; R SH Y 2,436,532

CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Oct. 3, 1945 INVENTOR ROBERT C. Sfl/PLEY Patented Feb. 24, 1 948 UNITED STATES 2,436,531. commie CLOSURE Robert Shipley, Kalamazoo, Mich. Application October 3, 1945, SeriaINo'. 620;!)22

Claims;

This invention relates to an improved con, v

tainer closure and is more specifically concerned,

with such means operable by a single simplemoveno externally visible parts ment and having when the container is closed.

While innumerable means have from time to time been provided for holding containers in a closed condition, relatively few of them are ef' fective and also entirely concealed from external view when the box is closed. Nevertheless, in

providing an attractive container fora high grade product, such as a container made from highly polished mahogany, tainer not be disfigured when'it is inclosed posi' tion by externally visible hinges, plates, latches or other conventional closure means.

It is further desirable in providing such a ci o? releasable by a simple manual movement so that the container: may be opened sure that it be or closed with a minimum of effort. However;

this ease of operation should not be accomplished.

by the sacrifice of firm holding when the container is in a closed condition. I Y Further, where the container is used in the distribution of a high grade article of commerce,

such as a finely made shaving razor,'so that it will be manipulated with considerable frequency over a long period of time, it ise'specially desirable that the closure mechanism parts and a maximum of sturdiness and duraL bility.

Therefore, the principalobject of this invention i is to provide means for maintaining.acontainerin a closed position without recourse to a latch .or other conventional means-of closure Another object of this invention is to .provide; a means for securing the cover of a container; firmly in place by a rapid single movement in such a manner that the cover will remain in that position without slippage.

- Another object of this invention is to provide means for securin a container and acooperating cover firmly together inclosed relationship Whichf all elements of the closure] means when saidparts are insuchclosedrelation will conceal from view ship.

Anotherobject of this invention isto provide means as aforesaid which willoperate cleanly and firmly and which willhaveahig'h degree of durability and resistance to wear and rough usage.

A further object of closure means as aforesaid'which are of such simple construction that the fabrication thereof can L be efiected rapidly-andinexpensivdy.

it is desirable that the connot only act cleanly and positively but that it have a minimum of moving my invention is to provide Qtherobjects and-purposesof myinvention will be this-type upon inspection of'thefollowing specification' with reference to the accompanyir lg- 5a ldr'awing.

closure means. v I

Figure 2 isatop 101' View ofone section. tion.

F'igure4 represents a-secti onf ;%ken-on the line-i IV-IV of Figures? and '3 when" the two portions n illustrated-are placed in 'posioft-he box therei Iii-tion for commencing the closingprocedure.

Figure 5 isa section taken-on the line V'V of Figure 4'.-

of Figure 4;

Figure 8 isya s shown in Figure 4 b11tin different positions relative to each other;

alternative structure forl'the-pin and'pin receiving opening shovvn'in Thisinvention-corrp v for apair ofcooperating rectangular, or other iguresiand 8;

L shaped sections which These parts may be "made as-wood'; with the several otherwise fastened to -each molded fromsuitalole' plastic.

' zan ma r al su h other; or'it may be ne eme t q fti eij q itai sr;wh m b the a t ut wh qki'wi heicall d h o ec;

t,. in fd lppr s 9f q v lien eii nam ne, hasa body [perpendicular 110 downwardly extending i c ude a uate in ic a he the s e f t is j mayb p anyl hane id-1 at 'the-midsection of" sp e i sh wn in l ja ,t efianses sand fiaiqr inaf ter, .Qn one side" of is an qneaine fi'p ecti sisa r evi i nen t6 inte e be ween and ,liaiiing walls. 7

a l tleastanproxi "portion, 'of' its 1 apparent to those achua-inte'd with articles of Figurel isa sideelevati on of a top and bottom" section of-a cdntainerprovidedwith my improved Figure} isa bottom'planview ofanother sec-' Figure 6 is a sect-ionitaken on the-line VI'-VI of Fi ure-71s a sectiontakenon the line VII-VII ection showing "the same parts as Figure 9-is a fragmentary detai-lshowing an rises essentially a closure shaped; hollow: members having two substantially t fit'tqs the n he maner'sh ni i u 'i' j o, fq mia os d c n ain ece fi y l ed; or 1 purp s s-a p arin h re? 11 team t re- .s .pwarel v n t ql dv portion of "the top section'as shown'in Figure 7,

sli ht .c n r in thre ai afielylqn .halrflof th inne section from the open part An arcuate space 9 has been provided at one end of this top section to accommodate the head of a safety razor, for which this particular container is designed. This hollowed section, however, is not an essential part of the invention.

The other section of the box, which may be either section, but which will be called the bottom section for purposes of convenience in naming, likewise has a longitudinal body in, which forms the bottom of'the box, and an upwardly extending end wall ll perpendicular thereto. This section has a. substantially arcuate center portion also terminating at each side in recesses [2 over which flanges l3 and Ba project inwardly as shown in Figure 5. These flanges and recesses are of size and shape to interlock with the'flanges 3 and 3a and their associated recesses when the container is assembled. The flanges are cut out ing backwardly in the direction of compression of the spring I1 either the forward wall of the pin or at least an inner part of the forward wall of opening 16, this difficulty is overcome. With the described means so constructed, the pin in its most forwardly position will readily comalong the center portion of each side, as seen in Figure 6, for purposes to be shown hereinafter.

Along one side of the bottom section there is provided a cylindrical opening l4 extending into the otherwise solid side portion of said bottom l8 at the end thereof. This opening contains a freely moving cylindrical member l5. A rounded peg i6 is immovably attached to the cylinder and projects upwardly through the slot IS in the manner shown in Figure 7. This cylindrical member is normally held in the position shown in Figure 2 by a spring [1, but may be the spring when required by the closing or opening operation. The peg is of size to be received easily by the opening 5 in the top section of the container.

Figures 4 and 5 show the bottom and top sections of the container in longitudinal section in two relative positions with respect to each other during an opening or closing operation. The functioning of this box closure can readily be seen therefrom. With the two sections held in the relative positions shown in'Figure 4, the top section I is moved downwardly until the opening 6 in the top section is entered by the peg l6 of the bottom section. At this point the flanges l3 and 13a in the top section rest upon, or approach close to, bottom section. In order to engage these two sets of opposing flanges, moved longitudinally with respect to the bottom section in a rightward direction as the parts appear in the drawings or backwardly as referred to in the claims. The engaged peg 15 will move the cylindrical member l5 also rightwardly and will cause the spring l'lto compress. As the flanges pass each other and the top and bottom sections are manually urged together they will fall into the positions with respect to each other from which interlocking of their respective flanges and recesses may be effected. When the manual holding is then released from the top section, the spring, acting through the cylindrical member l5 and the peg IE, will force this top section in a closing direction or forwardly as referred to in the claims. Thus the flanges will be carried into engagement the beginning of which is shown in Figure 8 and a closure provided which is simple and effective.

By tapering the inner part of the opening 6 above described there is secured further tightness in the holding function. The need for and purpose of this will be apparent from the following. 7

As will appear from an inspection of Figure 4 the pin It must necessarily be able to enter the the top section is then moved backwardly against the flanges 3 and 3a of the Y mence to enter the opening l6, but as the pin goes in further it will be pushed backwardly sufllciently with respect to the top member in that when it comes forwardly again as the box is closed it will not come quite as far forwardly as the position of the stop. Thus tension of the spring will act constantly to urge the parts together and prevent any looseness. In the particular embodiment disclosed this is secured by slightly tapering the inward portion of said opening. Thus the pin is permitted to enter the opening in one longitudinal position with respect to the top member l shown in Figure 4 but when the pin enters all of the way into said opening it will be forced to move slightly to the right with respect to said body I from the position as shown in said Figure 4. In this way, when the box is fully closed the pin is moved slightly backwardly against the spring 11 and is held slightly away from the forward end of the slot l9 which acts as a stop for the pm. By this means a constant tension by the spring is held onto the box parts when said parts are in a fully closed position urging them firmly together.

An alternative manner of effecting the same end is shown in Figure 9. Here the opening 6a, corresponding to the opening 6 in the other figures, has straight and parallel sides, and the shifting is provided by beveling the forward side of the pin I611, which corresponds to the pin it in the other figures. Other variations, such as merely rounding the top of the pin or slanting only a forward part of the opening, will be evident to those acquainted with articles of this sort.

In order to openthe box, the only movement necessary is again to displace the top of the box rightward with respect to the bottom as the same appear in the drawings sufllciently to disengage the flanges, at which point the top may be completely removed. As the top is removed the peg I6 is released and it, together with the cylindrical member 15, will snap back to its leftward position.

The advantages of this box closure are evident. There are no outside latches or hinges to come loose or to rust, or to disfigure the simplicity of the design of the container; the box may be 'opened and closed with a single rapid movement,

1. In acontalner comprising a pair of coopassassin n bers held tqgether in closed position by a plurality fiiitrli'ckirig fiangesana movable out oil-closed position by said'flangesiclosure means emn isine: operating members in, a direction. substantially perpendicular to the line of relative movement between the said cooperatingmn'lmbers as the in terlocking flanges thereof. af engaged and. disengaged andimovable in-lcbnt'ainerclosingldirection in response to and in container opening direction against resilient means on a line parallel line of relative movement; stop means 'erating me cooperating therewith locked position.

2. In a container comprising a pair of cooperating members held together in closed position by a plurality of interlocking flanges and movable out of closed position by slidingly disengaging said flanges, closure means cooperating therewith comprising: a pin supported by one of said cooperating members as the interlocking flanges thereof are engaged and disengaged and movable in container closing direction in response to and in container opening direction against resilient means on a line parallel to said line of relative movement; stop means limiting the movement of terlocked together in container relationship, at least an inner portion of the surface defining said opening against which said pin is urged when it members in fully interlocked position.

3. In a container comprising a pair of cooperating members held together in closed position by a plurality of interlocking flanges and movable out of closed position by slidingly disengaging said flanges, closure means cooperating therewith comprising: a cylindrical opening in one of said cooperating members aligned parallel to the direction of relative movement of said coas the same are engaged with or disengaged from each other; a slide within said opening and resiliently urged in a closing direction; engaging means operatively associated with said slide and extending toward the other {slidingly disengaging;

a pinsupported'by one of said-+ of said coop'eratifigifiwmfiyg; gfiow A the movement or tneecgaging r ane-magenta other i said stop means whereby said resilient-urging is' constantly efiective in holding said cooperating members in fully interlocked position.

4. In a container comprising a pair of cooperating members held together in closed position by a plurality of interlocking flanges and movable out of said closed position by slidingly disengaging said flanges, closure means cooperating therewith comprising: a cylindrical opening in on of said cooperating members aligned parallel to the direction of relative movement of said members as the same are engaged and disengaged with respect to each other; a cylindrical slide within said opening and urged in a closing direction by resilient means, engaging means associated with said cylindrical member and extending toward the other of said cooperating members in'a direction substantially perpendicular to the line of relative movement between the said cooperating members as the interlocking flanges thereof are engaged and disengaged; stop means limiting the movement of said engaging means in and aligned to receive said engaging means when said cooperating members are interlocked to gether in container relationship, at least the inner portion of the walls defining said opening being tapered sufficiently that when said cooperating means are fully interlocked said engaging means is by the inner wall of said opening held against the urging of said resilient means slightly away from said stop means whereby the force of said resilient means is fully efiective in holding said cooperating members in fully interlocked position.

5. In a container comprising a pair of cooperating members held together in closed position by a plurality of interlocking flanges and movable out of closed position by slidingly disengaging said flanges, closure means cooperating therewith comprising: a cylindrical opening in one of said members aligned parallel to the direction of relative movement of said members as the same are engaged with or disengaged from each other; a

together in container forming relationship, at least the inner portion of the walls defining said opening being tapered sufliciently that when said cooperating cans limitingfv said no. operating membefs loated position toreceive said engaging means tatiieast the inner portion. of the walls defining said opening being tapered l members are fully in I REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: r

Number Number 8 V UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Casper Mar. 11, 1924 Plourde Mar. 2, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain May 18, 1899 Great Britain Sept. 9, 1926 

